➳ paranoia ; suspicion and mistrust of people or their actions without evidence and justification.

It was the tinkling of ice that rummaged within your glass of liquor that you debated whether to drink the contents and regret it the day after or to deny the free offer the bartender had given you; to try their new bottle they had promptly started to sell within the specific bar. Your eyes narrowed towards the softly fizzing contents inside your glass, scrutinizing the bubbles as they dispersed after floating about the liquid for more than a few seconds — having wasted their purpose as they popped small amounts of gas within the air. You were so entranced, giving yourself thousands of reasons why drinking at that moment shouldn’t even be debatable to notice the bartender laugh under his breath.

“It’s not going to kill you, you know.” He said, shaking a blender cup before he started to pour someone else a glass of alcohol.

You pursed your lips, glancing to your phone hoping you would receive a text back but to your dismay, you had received nothing. “It may not kill me,” you started while you softly flicked the glass with your finger as the crushed ice began to dance with one another, “but it will ruin my life.”

He hummed, resting his elbow on the counter and towards your sober state of mind, sliding the cup a little closer to you. “But it may also give you something to live for.”

Request by: anon -
Hi! I was wondering if I could request a Lucifer x reader where Chuck is like “yeah Lucifer has a soulmate duh” so Sam, Dean, Cas, Lucifer, and Chuck all go to find them (Sam and Dean ready for her to be all evil) but they’re super intelligent and sweet? Thank you!!

A/N: Thanks for the request <3

No one’s POV

Sam, Dean, Cas and
Chuck were all sat silently in the room thinking of ways in which they could
make Lucifer less angry at everything which reduces the risk of him throwing
one of his ‘tantrums’ and destroying his brothers and humanity.

“I guess we could find
his soulmate,” Chuck spoke out loud breaking the silence causing both Sam and
Dean’s heads to shoot up and stare in Chuck’s direction.

“That’s a
possibility,” Castiel replied to his father before continuing to look down at
the lore book in his hands.

Both Sam and Dean just
continued to stare at them in shock. The Lucifer, the very fallen angel which
wanted to destroy humanity, had a soulmate, a human soulmate. A long period of
silence followed as they were both too frozen to say anything.

“Wait what? Lucifer
has a soulmate,” Dean spoke breaking the silence asking the question both him
and Sam wanted to ask.

“Yeah Lucifer has a
soulmate, duh,” Chuck laughed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world,
“I made every angel have a soulmate.”

“Could you
take us and Lucifer to her?” Sam asked Chuck steadily and Dean looked at him as
if he had just said the most stupid and crazy thing in the world.

“Of course
I can,” Chuck replied looking over the small group of people within the room,
“It’s just getting Lucifer out of his room and agreeing to the plan that’s
going to be the hard part, I don’t think he even knows himself that he has a
mate.”

Everyone’s
heads drifted to Dean silently, as a group, picking him to be the one to speak
to the angry archangel only a few rooms down from them.

“Well I’m
not going in there alone with no defence against a moody archangel.” Dean spoke
matter-of-factly.

“Who are
you calling moody?” A smooth voice called out causing everyone’s heads to shoot
over to where the sound came from.

There
stood Lucifer leaned against the doorframe with a smug expression covering his
face, it was the first time anyone had seen him come out of his designated room
almost as if he could sense that the others were talking about him.

“I’m fine
here,” he replied. Lucifer still wasn’t back to being 100% father and son with
God (in fact he acted like a teenager) but they seemed to be better than they
were when he first got out of the cage and being moody constantly was better to
Chuck than his son not talking to him at all.

“Well,
what do you all want, I could hear you all thinking my name from my room,”
Lucifer spoke into the silent room taking notice of the shocked expressions on
the Winchester’s face’s when looking at him.

“Father
decided it would be best if took you to see your soulmate.” Castiel informed
Lucifer.

Shock was
evident on Lucifer’s face for a split moment in time before it returned
expressionless to try and hide the emotions he was feeling; it was clear to
everyone in the room that he didn’t know he had a soulmate.

“Well, let’s go do that then,” Lucifer spoke calmly yet inside he knew
he was excited. After the fall and spending so long in the cage, he had begun
to think that his father had not created him a soulmate and was pleasantly
surprised to find out that he still had the ability to feel love like his
brothers and sisters, “It’s slightly better than doing nothing in my room all
day,” he added not wanting anyone in the room to acknowledge his happiness, he
still had the reputation of ‘the devil’ to hold.

“That was easier than expected,” mumbled Chuck to both Dean and Sam
with a chuckle before raising his hand and clicking sending them all to meet
Lucifer’s soulmate.

Your POV

Sighing to yourself, you collapsed onto the sofa, your favourite book
in your hand ready to read the night away. The day had been so busy and you
hadn’t had a second to relax so you had decided to spend the rest of the night
just relaxing, listening to your favourite band and reading. That was until you
heard a knocking at the door.

Thinking it was just some hunters coming to you for information you
decided to ignore the knocking at the door and continue reading, trying your
hardest to relax. They could go to
someone else for help, it’s been too long of a day.

The knocking continued so you sighed placing the book down and made
your way to the persistent person knocking at your door so late at night.

Shock was evident on your face when you opened the door to 5 men
staring at you, two looking slightly scared making you confused as to why they
could be here. You slightly backed away from the door in case they were demons
(which you doubted highly due to the friendship you had with Crowley, although
they could be rouge demons) or any other monster which could have found out you
were helping hunters.

Even though you were nervous, your eyes couldn’t help but drift over
to the man with blonde hair you just wanted to wrap your hands in and gorgeous
blue eyes that you could stare in for eternity, your eyes continued to roam
over his body, as did his with yours. You quickly diverted your eyes away from
him in case he noticed you checking him out.

“How can I help you lovely men?” you smiled slightly looking at them
as a whole.

“We was wondering if we could speak with Y/N,” the guy in the trench
coat asked.

“That would be me, please, come in,” you replied, a smile not leaving
your face, you nervously watched as they all stepped onto and over the welcome
mat which contained a hidden devils trap under it. Your worry slightly lifted
when you saw that none of them had gotten stuck. We are demon free, I repeat, demon free you thought to yourself as
the men followed you into the kitchen.

“Anybody want a cuppa?” you asked happy that you weren’t in danger, if
you were they probably would have tried to attack you by now but you were still
cautious just in case.

A chorus of ‘no thank you’s’ was your reply apart from the blonde
headed man replying ‘please’ causing all of the other men to look at him as if
he had grown another head.

“S-Sure thing,” you cursed yourself for stuttering when talking to him
and you felt your cheeks begin to heat up.

You hummed a cheery tune as you quickly spun around and popped the
kettle on before making a drink for the both of you. As you handed the mysteriously
hot man his drink your fingers collided for a moment and everything felt right
like nothing else mattered in that short moment of time but you and him, sparks
of electricity running up your arm. Looking up into the man’s crystal blue eyes,
you searched for any sign that he had felt the same as you but all you saw was
his expressionless face. Quickly, you grabbed onto your drink before sitting
down and inviting everybody else to do so.

“So, what is it you guy’s wanted,” you smiled taking a sip of your
drink. You had always been a cheerful person, from a very young age up until
now and you had always believed that there was too much negativity within the
world that you couldn’t possibly contribute to that, so you tried to spread as
much joy as possible. It was one of the reasons you started helping hunters
with their boring lore work. Lucifer realised that and admired you for it.

“Well, I guess we should introduce ourselves first, shouldn’t we?” the
tall long haired man said nudging the person next to him who continued to stare
at you like you was some sort of myth or legend.

“Wha- oh yes. Introductions. I’m Dean, that’s…” he paused for a second
whilst pointing in the blonde man’s direction, “…Nick?” he said as more of a
question, “Chuck, Cas, and this is my little brother Sam.”

It was now your turn to have shock overcome your face. Did you hear them right? Sam and Dean
Winchester was in your house, in front of you with the infamous Castiel you had
heard so much about. What the heck would they want with you?

“Winchester brothers?” You asked out quietly, surprised that a voice
even managed to come out of your mouth.

“Yeah… That’s us, how’d you know?” Sam asked slightly creeped out that
you knew who they were.

“Oh come on, every hunter knows about you two,” you stated.

Silence overcame the room as the men processed what you had just said,
the only person to show any form of emotion was Nick, a large, proud smirk
across his face at the fact you were a hunter.

“Well then, since you know about the supernatural, we can properly
introduce ourselves,” Chuck spoke motioning to him and Nick, “I’m God, but I
prefer Chuck.”

“Pleasure to meet you Chuck!” You spoke happily sticking out your hand
for him to shake, surprising yourself that you didn’t react massively to the
fact he had just told you he was the God.
He chuckled taking your hand in his, your infectious smile crawling its way
onto his face. Everybody then looked in Nicks direction, you saw him nervously
fiddling with his hands.

“I, uh, I’m,” he stuttered, a hand reaching to stroke the back of his
neck to calm him down as he debated whether or not he should tell you the
truth, “I’m Lucifer.”

You smiled and wrapped your arms around him, for some reason it just
felt right and both you and Lucifer knew it. He sighed into the hug relaxing
instantly when you didn’t freak out over who he was

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you too Lucifer,” you said into the hug
before pulling away from him seeing a smile on his face. The rest of the group
seemed shocked at his display of emotion yet Lucifer decided to ignore them and
keep smiling at you.

“So,” you spoke suddenly clapping your hands together and reluctantly
turning away from Lucifer, “What brings the Winchesters, God and the angels to
these neck of the woods.”

Lucifer’s metaphorical heart stopped for a moment when you
acknowledged him as an angel, he didn’t think he could possibly fall in love
with something as quickly as he was with you.

“You understand the concept of soulmates correct?” Castiel spoke up
and you looked over in Lucifer’s direction knowing where the conversation
seemed to be heading.

“I do,” you answered Castiel but not taking your eyes off of Lucifer
and him not taking his eyes off of you.

“Well, we found out that you are the soulmate of-“

“Lucifer,” you spoke cutting Castiel off. It definitely was the only
explanation for the strong attraction you were having for him, it felt as if
you had known each other for all eternity.

“Yes, Lucifer is your mate,” Castiel confirmed.

You felt as Lucifer’s hand slid down into yours, fingers locking together
causing a grin to appear on both your face and Lucifer’s.

“Okay let’s leave them to it then,” Chuck said shoving the rest of the
boys out of the room and throwing a wink at you. Sam and Dean still continued
to show shocked expressions at your kindness towards everyone as they were
pushed by God out of the room to leave you and Lucifer some privacy to talk.

“Y/N,” Lucifer turned to you and placed a hand on your cheek the other
still locked between your fingers, “I know we have only just met, but it feels
as if I have been in love with you for eternity.”

“Me too Luci,” you confirmed slightly blushing and ducking your head at
the way in which stared lustfully at you.

His hand drifted down to under your chin as he lifted your head to
make you look at him. Your eyes locked with his ocean blue ones and it felt as
if he was staring directly into your soul. Slowly, with his hand still on your
chin, Lucifer leaned down hovering his lips over yours momentarily as your foreheads
touched due to how close you were before locking his lips with yours. As cliché
as it sounds, you felt butterflies erupt in your stomach when your hand reached
up and gripped into his blonde hair. His gentle hand snaked its way around your
waist and pulled you closer to his chest as he deepened the kiss. In this
moment, wrapped in your soulmate’s arms, feeling the best you had in a while,
you knew that you was truly in love as was Lucifer and that he was going to do
everything in his power to protect you.

In Alchemy, The Hand of Mysteries holds the keys to divinity and invites you to discover great secrets! All the symbols represent different elements, their various abilities, and spiritual significance. Very cool stuff.

This art blog is nod dead I swear! <3 I’ll try to step up my game with posting and sharing the remainder of the year.

Fitz gets out of the limo. He holds his hand out to a mysterious woman. And who exits the car but…Bobbi Morse. We, the audience, suddenly realize they are dressed up as part of an undercover mission for SHIELD. After their mission they meet up with a very-much-alive Jemma Simmons who has pulled a Nick Fury and faked her own death to avoid Hydra. She has something very important to tell them.

(Y/N) (L/N) didn’t have many friends. At least, she didnt until the mysterious disappearance of Jason Blossom.

Jason Blossom’s disappearance-turned-murder had turned (Y/N)’s life completely upside down. She had been down by Sweetwater River the night of the school dance, the night when Jason’s body was discovered.

She had gone to the dance with Reggie Mantle, her best friend. They had been friends since kindergarten, and he protected her fiercely, never letting Chuck or any of the other guys put her in the playbook. When Reggie had noticed Chuck looking (Y/N) up and down as they were dancing, he decided it was time to leave. Instead of dropping her off at home, he had dropped her off at Sweetwater River, knowing that the girl had a tendency to wander around.

She had been relaxing on a rock, knees hugged to her chest, when she heard two voices coming towards her. She had gotten up and turned on her phone’s flashlight, pointing it at the new arrivals.

“Kevin?”

“(Y/N)?”

The young girl chuckled before noticing Moose behind him. She gave Kevin a knowing look as she talked, “So, what brings you guys here?”

“We were just gonna go for a swim,” Moose replied hesitantly. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Mantle?” He asked, walking past her.

She shook her head. Kevin grabbed her by the wrist as he dragged her along with him. “Oh god (Y/N). Don’t leave me,” he said, rolling his eyes at Moose.

They walked down the river bank until (Y/N) tripped on something. It was a shoe.

A shoe that belonged to the once living Jason Blossom.
~~~

Getting interrogated by Sheriff Keller after finding Jason Blossom’s dead body tends to draw a lot of attention to an individual, and lucky for (Y/N), she had managed to draw the attention of Riverdale’s very own super sleuth. A boy by the name of Jughead Jones.

She had also gained the attention of Betty Cooper, who had taken it upon herself to befriend the (H/C) girl. Luckily for both of them, they clicked and soon, B & V became B & V & (Y/I). (Y/N) began spending a lot of time at the Cooper’s residence, often staying there for long periods of time. She still hung out with Reggie, but he understood that she needed a female friend to talk to.

By being associated with Betty, (Y/N) quickly became integrated with the rest of her friends. Her and Archie got along marvelously, and she had a good friendship with both Veronica and Kevin. Jughead, on the other hand, was more curious about the mystery of Jason, although he couldn’t quite figure out why this girl intrigued him so much.

Pretty soon, Betty garnered both (Y/N) and Jughead’s help in restarting the Blue & Gold and they all began chasing after the truth, (Y/N) especially due to the fact that she had discovered the body. Her and Jughead often worked together and Jughead found that this worked out perfectly for him, as he could now get any information about Jason’s discovery from her.

He quickly realized she didn’t have much to say on the topic, but a beautiful friendship had formed.

It was only when they went to visit Polly, Betty’s sister, that (Y/N) realized that her feelings for Jughead had grown from friendship to something more.
~~~

“What if I really am crazy?” Betty asked. She was lying down on her bed as (Y/N) paced across her room. Betty’s parents had put them both on house arrest, seeing as they had gone to see Polly.

“Bets, you’re not crazy,” (Y/N) sighed.

“Fine, fine,” Betty said. She quickly sat up as a thought came to her mind. “What’s going on with you and Jughead?”

It had taken her less than five minutes. Less than five minutes to get plates and napkins and head back upstairs.

She was happy, they had managed to talk to Polly and now she was going to spend the afternoon with two of her favorite people.

She stopped abruptly as she got to Betty’s room. There, in the middle of the room, stood Jughead and Betty, kissing. Jughead held her face so gently, as though she’d break if he held on any tighter.

They hadn’t noticed (Y/N)’s presence until she dropped the plates she was holding and they shattered. The two teens sprung apart as they heard the noise, turning around to see (Y/N) bend down and picking up the shards whilst muttering apologies.

“I’m sorry guys, I didn’t know,” she said. Jughead bent to help her and as he they reached for the same piece, she flinched, cutting herself with the porcelain and leaving a long, deep cut on her hand.

“Oh shit,” she cursed. She quickly got up and turned to Betty. “Uh Betty, I have to go. Reggie just texted me, he needs my help with something. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Wait, (Y/N), your hand,” Jughead began. He flinched as the (H/C) girl looked at him with tears in her eyes. He had fucked up. Badly.

“I’ll be fine,” she muttered, looking down. “I’ll get Reggie to help me.”

All she could hear was Betty and Jughead calling after her as she ran down the stairs and left the house. She couldnt believe she had been so stupid as to waste time and feelings on someone like Jughead Jones. Of course he would choose Betty over her. As she reached the door, she felt someone pull her back. Jughead.

“(Y/N), wait.”

“Listen Jug, I gotta go,” she wouldn’t look at him. “Go back to Betty,” she said sofly. “I’ll see you at school.”

As she left, Jughead groaned and kicked the wall before heading back upstairs. Betty was in tears as she turned around and showed him (Y/N)’s phone. She had no texts from Reggie whatsoever.
~~~

Wow guys. Two posts in one day. Heck yeaaaaa. Anyways, I got this idea after watching episode 6. Hope y'all like it.
~~~

Ah, Sunday mornings. You always loved Sunday mornings. There was just something so soothing, so calming about the sound of birds chirping outside, how pretty your kitchen was when the early rays of the sun peeked through the blinds- Sunday morning made your entire house ten times more cozy. You liked waking up early on the weekends because a little alone time was always nice. Sunday morning was a chance to sit down with an icy cold bowl of cereal in one hand and a mystery novel in the other. Of course, watching a little TV was another option that-

“Y/N!” The sound, or rather, the screaming of your name nearly made you drop your bowl of cereal, your once peaceful surrounding immediately shattered by Harry’s voice.

“Jesus Christ.” You muttered, your heart pounding slightly at the sudden intrusion. You wiped specks of milk off the pages of your book before looking up to see Harry barreling down the stairs with wide eyes. “What are you doing up so early?”

“My back hurts.” Harry raised an eyebrow, looking at you as if wanting you to say something. “Do you know why my back is bloody killing me?”

“Is it the old age catching up to you?” You joked, spooning some cereal into your mouth and chewing thoughtfully. “Do we need to buy a harder mattress? I hear they’re great for posture.”

“Very funny.” Harry rolled his eyes, turning around and lifting the back of his shirt up to show you his back. “Look!”

“What am I looking a- Oh my.” Your eyebrows knitted together when you got a closer look at Harry’s back and what seemed like a million scratch marks. You could barely see the colour of his skin because his entire back was decorated in raw scratch marks and was a nice shade of pink. Red, painful looking scratches were etched into his skin, from his shoulder blades to his lower back. “That, uh… Those marks are probably causing your back to hurt.”

“No shit, Y/N.” Harry laughed lightly, turning to glance at you quickly. “Since when did your nails get so sharp?”

“My nails aren’t even that sharp, and you can’t blame me!” You huffed, setting your spoon down with a clink. “Someone insisted on doing it against the wall last night and I didn’t have anywhere to… grab!” Your cheeks began burning up when you looked at the claw marks - they looked pretty painful. You didn’t even realize your nails could cause that much damage.

“The decision to fuck against the wall was mutual, need I remind you. And you could’a grabbed my hair, love.” Harry snorted, tugging his shirt back down and sitting across from you.

“You would be bald right now if I tugged on your hair.” You muttered, finishing the rest of your cereal and pushing the bowl aside. “I’ll try to be more careful next time.”

“Tha’s what you said last time, and then you broke the headboard from riding my di-”

“You were the one moving my hips!” You whined, your cheeks flaring up once again at the memory of the bed snapping to pieces under you. (That was during the first couple dates that you had with Harry, so it was pretty mortifying to have broken his bed that was probably more expensive than your entire flat.) “I’m terminating this conversation before you embarrass me further.”

“Don’t be embarrassed! It’s a great boost to my ego knowing that I drive you so crazy you begin destroying everything.” Harry snickered, pulling his phone out and beginning to scroll through it.

a/n : so i took a stab at a jughead one shot, which was surprisingly challenging because his character is so interesting and hard to get right. but hey, have some drabble that i’ve managed to spew into some writing.

Disappointment. That’s all you seemed to ever feel. That nauseous drop in your stomach, an inconsolable hole. But you were used to it, you’d been let down your whole life. Your dad leaving when you were just eight years old; your mother becoming a work-consumed robot, incapable of showing human emotion to her daughter; and your brother just being a down right dick. A trait he had once again managed to show tonight.

You sat in the retro red booth of Pop’s, a chocolate shake sat in front of you. You swirled the straw around the tall glass before taking another sip. You were waiting for your brother to show. You wanted nothing more than to see him but apparently he didn’t feel the same way. As much as you didn’t want to admit it you knew he wasn’t coming. You’d been sat with false hope for about an hour now, simply watching the people that entered and exited the diner. You saw your friend Archie Andrews enter the shop earlier to pick up and order. You two weren’t best friends but you were his lab partner. He gave you a smile which you returned with a fake one, although he didn’t pick up on your facade.

“On the house” you heard a voice from beside you as a basket on onion rings was placed on your table. You cast your eyes up to familiar face of Pop. He gave you a pitiful smile as he wiped his hands on his apron. You gave him a grateful smile. “Didn’t show again?” He questioned despite already knowing the answer. This wasn’t the first time your brother had stood you up, and you’d managed to admit yourself that it most likely wasn’t the last. You let out a sigh.

“More onion rings for me right?” you joked, your sardonic humour presenting itself earning yourself a look of pity off Pop. You picked one up and shoved it in your mouth, silently praying the conversation would end. You appreciated Pop’s charity but you hated people feeling sorry for you.

“Just let me know if you need anything” He offered, motioning to your almost empty chocolate shake. You followed his gaze and picked up the glass and passing it to him with a sheepish smile. He took the glass from your grip and smiled, walking off to top it up. You relaxed back into the booth again, your eyes landing on the basket of food in front of you. However, the pang of frustration managed to put you off as you edged them further away from you across the table. You ran your hand through you dark hair, another sigh of melancholy escaping your lips. Just another night at Pop’s alone after being stood up by Dean the dick you thought. Pop returned with your shake and placed it on the table, leaving you with your thoughts. Before your mind could crawl any further into the dark hole of depression and angst someone slid into the other side of the booth.

“Are you going to eat this?” he inquired, your basket of onion rings now sat in front of him. You shook your head silently, as he popped one in his mouth. Who was this boy? His eyes were slightly sunken, a dark shade visible underneath them. He had dark unruly curls that poked out from the front of his dark beanie. His small pink lips moving slightly as he consumed your food. You stared at him as he ate, taking in his features.

“Do you always stare at people when the eat their food?” He questioned catching your gaze; your cheeks reddened slightly. His tone was serious, put the playfulness in his eyes was evident enough for you to make a comeback.

“Well technically it’s my food” You retorted with a smirk. He stopped chewing for a second and stared at you, his dark eyes boring into yours.

“Touché” He countered, picking up another onion ring. You sat in silence as he finished the basket and sighed with content. You snickered quietly as he cleaned his fingers on a napkin. “So” he started, pushing the basket aside and leaning forwards. You did the same, placing your hands on the table. “Why have you been sat alone until now looking like humpty dumpty just fell off the wall… for the twenty fifth time?” He asked. You let out a laugh, your lips twisting into a playful smirk.

“How did you know i love Humpty Dumpty so much?” You sassed. He rolled his eyes playfully and shrugged his shoulders. You sighed before responding. “My douchebag of a brother stood me up, again.” A look of pity flashed across his eyes, sparking your short-temper. He opened his mouth to say something but you cut him off. “Anyway, i don’t know why i’m telling you this when i don’t even know your name,” you quipped, taking a sip of your shake.

“Jughead Jones, the third” he responded causing you to choke on your beverage. He inspected you factiously, as if waiting for you to respond with a witty comment. But you didn’t. You composed yourself and stuck your hand out. “Well, Jughead Jones the third, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance” You said gallantly. He gladly accepted and took your hand in his.

“So, mysterious Humpty Dumpty lover” he started making himself comfortable on his side of the booth, wait laced in his tone. “Tell me more about yourself, how do you feel about Jack and Jill?” You let out a giggle, earning a grin from the boy opposite you. You may have only just met Jughead, but you were already thanking fate for throwing you both together as you sat in Riverdale’s famous chock’lit shoppe until the early hours of the morning, escaping your merciless realities together.

A grain of rice, like a grain of sand, sifts through your hands with a mysterious and lovely sameness. Mostly white or tan, hundreds or thousands of grains pour smoothly out of buckets, out of burlap, into bowls, with a sound like small waterfalls. Rice seems so simple, really. And yet, because it plays a central role in world cuisines, these modest grains can carry the weight of history. Sometimes that history is deeply surprising.

Trinidadian ethnobotanist Francis Morean is living that surprise. The 56-year-old grew up in Trinidad’s Palo Seco hamlet, helping his mother and grandmother plant “hill rice” in the garden once the late-spring rainy season had begun. They would punch checkerboard-style holes in the ground with stakes fashioned from tree branches, and drop the rice seeds in. After harvesting, they would dry the rice plants on large cloths sewn together and laid in the sun. The dried rice plants were shredded by dancing and stomping on them barefoot, the hulls removed in homemade mortars and pestles. The rice stored well for years and was, says Morean, a cherished dish at the dinner table.

“In Sierra Leone and many West African nations, rice was an essential part of every meal,” Morean says. “So being able to produce one’s rice was a major plus for persons of the African diaspora.”

And this particular rice, in the words of David Shields, author of Southern Provisions: The Creation and Revival of a Cuisine, was “the most historically significant African diaspora grain in the Western Hemisphere.” Last month, Morean joined Shields and assorted rice geneticists, scholars, growers and chefs in Charleston, S.C., to attend a day-long tasting and presentation on the history of this unusual African rice that is, nowadays, causing a bit of a stir.

It’s a rice that traveled from Africa to low country — the sea islands and coastal plains of the American Southeast – and was grown widely in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Kentucky. While it was not a major commercial crop on plantations, for the enslaved Africans who worked them, it was a vital, edible link to the homes they and their ancestors had been wrenched from. It was then brought to Trinidad by formerly enslaved people called Merikins — a variant of “Americans” — where it thrived even as it vanished from U.S. fields. It is a seed that followed the slave trade, and its repatriation now may help fill in a critical missing link in Southern, African and Trinidadian foodways.